Iraqi-born artist focuses on the beauty within two cultures

John David MercerArtist Salma Hasan explores aesthetics of the East and West, rendering works, such as the one below, that include traditional Islamic design elements as well as human figures.

Salma Hasan has known hardship in the East and West.

Before coming to Mobile in July of 2001, the Iraqi artist suffered in a war-torn nation, surviving even as her brother and young daughter died. The government censored her artwork, as well as that of her husband. Feeling threatened by the authorities, she and her family fled from their home.

Then, after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the whole world changed, she said. She has sensed that some people associate Islam with terrorism; someone once asked her, "Why (do) you hate us?" Aghast, Hasan said she responded that she didn't.

Despite her experiences, Hasan focuses on the beauty within both cultures.

Earlier this year, Hasan earned her bachelor's degree in fine arts at the University of South Alabama. In her art, she has explored aesthetics of the East and West, rendering mixed media works that include traditional Islamic design elements as well as human figures.

Benjamin J. Shamback, associate professor of painting and drawing at the University of South Alabama, said her work is interesting.

"I kind of expected more subtlety," he said, a "step-by-step sort of progression for her to wrap her head around, starting from the Middle Eastern standpoint, which is very pattern- and abstraction-based, almost decorative, and then moving into bringing the figure in, which was the big problem for her, wanting to do that."

He added: "I think that she thought about it for a long time and decided to discard any kind of subtlety at all.¤...¤She's got a lot of boldness."

Hasan wrote of her own work: "The spontaneity, directness, and secrecy of Islamic design have always been extremely interesting to me, and I use this design style to point out the tradition's importance as a representation of uniqueness and beauty. My work is centered on eastern art and Islamic design but is combined with western traditions by interjecting the realistic human figure.

"A figure, through the roundness and gentleness of its form, conveys a sense of receptivity, lack of aggression, and of transcendence of time and trials. In my work, the figure becomes elongated and idealized to conform to my ideals of elegance and beauty. The figure begins to match and mimic the beauty and intricacy of Islamic design. Such a combination is inconceivable in eastern art, but is where I find my interests as part of both cultures."

Hasan said she does not want her work to be interpreted as something forbidden.

The hadith, a collection of the traditions and sayings of the prophet Mohammed, includes prohibitions against images of living beings.

Still, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art noted on its Web site: "Contrary to a popular misconception ... figural imagery is an important aspect of Islamic art. Such images occur primarily in secular and especially courtly arts and appear in a wide variety of media and in most periods and places in which Islam flourished. It is important to note, nevertheless, that representational imagery is almost invariably restricted to a private context. Figurative art is excluded from the decoration of religious monuments. This absence may be attributed to an Islamic antipathy toward anything that might be mistaken for idols or idolatry, which are explicitly forbidden by the Qu'ran."

"Art is emotional," said Hasan, who thinks that it should be separated from religion as well as politics.

That's not to say her faith isn't important to her.

"I still raise my kids as Islamic," Hasan said. "We all pray. We all practice Islam."

For now, she still dreams of being a teacher. Meanwhile, she's hoping some local venues might display her work.

Sitting with her family -- now all American citizens -- she said of her work: "My idea, my aim, my goal, was the beauty of both cultures."